My koi pond has a little waterfall. The sound of water cascading down the rocks sooths me when I stand there. I love listening to the surf at oceanside as well as the song of the water tumbling over the rocks in a brook. Water is the most abundant substance on earth, covering about 70% of her surface. 8 out of 10 people live within miles of an ocean or along a river! The largest part of our body is water, human brain being 78% water. We can exist for long periods without food, but only a few days without water. No wonder we are drawn to the sounds of water.

“Come and Drink!” Jesus invites. “Jesus stood and shouted to the crowds, “If you are thirsty, come to me! If you believe in me, come and drink! For the Scriptures declare that rivers of living water will flow out from within.” (When he said “living water,” he was speaking of the Spirit.”) (John 7:37) When, by faith, we turn to Christ Jesus, He pours the Spirit into us and that brings life and a miraculous change. Religion, with all its rules governing our behavior, is dry and deadening; a desert. Knowing God, living in the flow of the Holy Spirit, makes us alive, God-life abundant in us; a well-watered garden.

Luke writes about the first days of the Church, of the Spirit. One of his stories is about Peter and John going to worship and meeting a beggar at the Temple entry, a man whose legs were useless. Did they just feel pity and share some platitude about learning to be content in the peace of God? Think again! When the Spirit overflowed “Peter said, “I don’t have any money for you. But I’ll give you what I have. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, get up and walk!” Then Peter took the lame man by the right hand and helped him up. And as he did, the man’s feet and anklebones were healed and strengthened.” (Acts 3:6-7, NLT) In those Believers, there was a river of life that flowed from Jerusalem, to Antioch, across the Empire, and to the world. Lives were transformed. Sin was defeated, the Kingdom was revealed.

“Lord, let that river flow from my life!” I pray to bring refreshing to people that I live among, beyond being ‘nice’ or ‘kind’ as good as that might be. I want the river of the Spirit to flow from me. Do you? I don’t want to be a person whose hateful attitude, whose constant ‘neediness,’ whose love for Self is so all-consuming as to turn my presence into something like a hot, dry wind. My desire is to be so full of the Spirit of God that the overflow cannot be contained. God does not reserve His Presence for a few. He invites the thirsting to come … “For I will pour water on the thirsty land, and streams on the dry ground; I will pour out my Spirit on your offspring, and my blessing on your descendants.” (Isaiah 44:3, NIV)

This word from the Word is my desire. “Oh, the joys of those who do not follow the advice of the wicked, or stand around with sinners, or join in with mockers. But they delight in the law of the Lord, meditating on it day and night. They are like trees planted along the riverbank, bearing fruit each season. Their leaves never wither, and they prosper in all they do.” (Psalm 1:1-3, NLT)

Lord God, this Monday morning, we come –
Our hearts desiring your Presence, our spirits in need of
The Water of Life.
As we come to You, let the water of renewal pour over us;
Washing away fear, relieving our anxieties, causing us to live in abundance.

Let us be people who are refreshed and who refresh others.
Jesus, in Your Holy Name I ask this wonderful thing. Amen.